MMX: Another Kind of Nightmare
by Black Mantle
Summary: [Sequel of The Last Standing] Many years have passed since Sigma's final defeat, but now reploids are facing a new nightmare far worse than any virus.
1. Preface

Another Kind of Nightmare

A Megaman X fanfiction by Black Mantle

_**Preface**_

December 24, 2004

Merry Christmas! (Or Seasons Greetings if you're not Christian, but I'm not either; I don't give a damn about this excessive politically correctness garbage.)

Welcome again, fans of the legendary Megaman X, to another tale spun from the dark recesses of my mind. This is a sequel to my previous fan-fiction _The Last Standing_ and takes place several years after that one. You can think of this as _The Last Standing: Episode 2_. Much like the previous story, this tale doesn't center on X or Zero (I got a few complaints about that), and I really would suggest you read the original to get caught up on some of my interpretations of the Megaman X universe.

As with the previous story, this one is going towards the direction that leads to Megaman Zero's story line, starting from Megaman X6. I personally don't care what Capcom does with MMX, I've already had the story laid out, so if it doesn't match, blame them!

Black Mantle

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Capcom and are used without permission. Pheromone "Katie" Skunk is © Black Mantle.


	2. With the Fallen

Another Kind of Nightmare 

A Megaman X fanfiction by Black Mantle

_**With the Fallen**_

The lights barely maintained their energy in the dank environment; slowly they faded, one by one they perished. There was only one sentient witness to the slow death that waited. All around, death had already been prevalent; many now lay silent at the feet of one who dared to intrude on their slumber.

Slowly, a pair of feet traversed the narrow pathways between the wreckage, snaking their way through the mounds of destruction, until they came to stand before a great steel altar. Atop it laid a lone figure, though wholly there, it was not. The stranger looked around and approached the largest mass. At the base, he found another, a lonely creature, beaten to a vicious defeat with no hope. Picking up the remains, the shadow walked over and placed it on the mantle with the other, the one he came for and lost. For an eternity, they were apart; for perpetuity, they would remain together.

There was one last respect to be paid.

"Looks like you've received the fate you deserve, old man. Don't get me wrong; I appreciate everything you've done for me. And I _hate_ you for that!"

To Be Continued

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Capcom and are used without permission. Pheromone "Katie" Skunk is © Black Mantle.


	3. A Real Nightmare

Another Kind of Nightmare

A Megaman X fanfiction by Black Mantle

_**A Real Nightmare**_

E checked his internal chronometer, 5 seconds, 4 seconds, 3 seconds, 2 seconds, 1 second… 0. For the moment it seemed like a pretty big event, it was exactly 7 years ago that he was reactivated in his new body.

(7 years old… I feel like 70.) He thought about it for a moment; given that he was originally built by Dr. Light over half a century ago, 70 years would be pretty close; but that only made him feel that much older. He turned to the left to look out the window; flying past at a break neck pace was a dimly lit passage and the flicker of the tunnel lights.

Sitting across from him, Dr. Cain saw dire curves on the ancient robot's face. "You don't look so hot."

"I've got a lot on my mind." E glanced back, thinking that Cain was well into his sixties, possibly a newborn babe when Wily was still wreaking havoc on the world or born shortly after his defeat.

"It's been a hard few months, but we can't give up."

E turned back to the soothing voice. Sitting to his right, with a face bearing equal parts calm and concern, was his only reason for being in this era of his life. A good head smaller than his towering frame, finely crafted blue, and silver armour shielded and accented the body of a beautiful woman with two anomalous features; a large tail, and a most inhuman face.

"It's been a tough few years."

Katie leaned over towards him, resting her anthropomorphic head on his round chest plate. He responded by wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

Dr. Cain turned his attention away from the pair. Next to him, Armored Armadillo looked at the couple, thinking it rather queasy that they would be holding each other in public like this, but learned long ago to leave them be.

E returned to the window and the dark walls of the subway.

(It's been a tough 7 years.)

* * *

_3 years ago…_

Life had been relatively constant for 4 years, it seemed that everywhere you looked, there was a reploid infected by the Nightmare virus, and whenever you found one, there was a Hunter close behind. There had been a few minor attempts from Sigma to turn the tables and destroy the Hunters, but all had been repelled; until now…

Sigma made his grand move, bringing a huge uprising of infected reploids to battle, a war that brought the world to the brink of Armageddon. The Hunters, combined with the remnants of Repliforce and the human armies countered the surge; casualties were enormous, destruction was catastrophic, but in the end, Sigma had fallen once and for all.

It was a poorly gained victory, but a victory nonetheless.

Rejoice was short lived.

* * *

_1 year later…_

The reconstruction had begun, but a new battle had formed; humans no longer trusted reploids, and soon political power was rising to remove any chance of more reploids turning on the humans that built them. It was not enough that the cause of the reploids' maverick behaviour had been traced back to the Nightmare virus and that an anti-virus existed, fear continued to dominate human emotion, just as it also dominated reploid emotion. In some places, the construction of more reploids was halted totally, others considered outfitting all reploids with tracking beacons to monitor their movements, but some extremists were moving to simply destroy them.

Reploids were not content to sit and watch the possible enslavement or extinction of their race. Many sought aid in compassionate governments, hoping for a political end to the persecution, while others took the matter in their own hands. In parts of the world, gang violence was soon commonplace, as militias of humans and reploids fought to determine who had a right to exist, and who did not.

* * *

E returned to his world and time, continuing to stare out at the flickering lights in the darkness. It seemed as if all he knew were his traveling companions. Everything he remembered from his past life were long lost, almost everything he gained in his new life had been violently taken from him. X hadn't been seen since Sigma's defeat; it was he who faced the tyrant, and E believed that he died in similar fashion to his predecessor. But X wasn't the only one lost, most of the Hunters perished during the great battle; Signas, Douglas, Axl, none were heard from after the war. Alia somehow survived the destruction of Hunter HQ; she and a few others started to coordinate the remaining reploids, trying to help each other, trying to stop the hatred and fear that was spreading like wild fire. He, Katie, Arm and Dr. Cain were heading to city hall for a meeting regarding that very issue. 

Production of reploids had almost completely ceased about a year ago, and now the condition of the remaining reploids was up for debate. Less than 200 km east, the city of Arcadia had already enacted some of the strictest reploid control laws in the region, and it was quickly spreading to other areas. There, reploids were forced to carry control chips that could shut them down by authorities if they conducted in any "malicious" action. Those that refused were captured and either forced to take the chips or be reprogrammed into mindless drones, which was if they weren't destroyed by the "Crusaders".

A new breed of reploid warrior, the Crusaders consisted of reploids that were considered loyal to humanity, charged with the duty of seeking out those deemed "maverick" and to bring them in for reprogramming. They were ruthless and were granted the power to destroy any maverick that proved too resilient, which was usually any reploid that so much as shook their head the wrong way. Although it seemed appropriate to continue to name the miscreants with the old "maverick" tag, the irony was not lost that many of the remaining Hunters were now classed with the criminal notation that they once fought against. Many reploids tried to escape Arcadia, a few made it to nearby cities, only to find that anti-reploid sentiment was spreading, forcing them to move on again.

E shuddered that such hatred could spread here, and feared what would happen if the local city counsel voted against him and his kind. He couldn't allow that to happen, not to him, not to Arm, and definitely not to Katie. They had been together for 7 years, it's not everyday that you're rebuilt one morning, then have a date that very afternoon. Although it certainly didn't seem significant at the time, E could still recall the first time he saw Katie, the klutzy reploid skunk who was also in for repairs, who came over to him one night. Back when E was still known as Elecman, nothing more than a decimated shell, before he knew anything of friendship or love, he saw her. Unfeeling, uncaring, no knowledge of the world around him, he still remembers that night with perfect accuracy.

* * *

_7 years and 2 days ago…_

"Awake are we?"

Elecman only blinked, but the visitor wasn't dismayed.

"Hi, my name is Pheromone Skunk, but the last three digits of my serial number are 'K8E' so everyone calls me 'Katie' for short."

The disfigured Robot Master tried to reply, but his voice was crackled and broken. "I… ammmm… Elec-c-c-cmaan."

"'Elecman'? I think I've heard that name somewhere." Katie shrugged it off and continued to talk.

"So, what happened to you? Did some Mavericks do this, or was it an accident like me?"

Elecman didn't respond.

"O.K. Maybe it's best you just lie there. But tell me if you find me boring."

Elecman blinked.

"Don't worry about your injuries, Lifesavor is the best, he fixes me up." Katie got a little over confident and tried standing straight up. "Ack, like my foot." She started to limp again.

"So, are you in pain?"

This time, she drew a very robotic but clear vocal response. "No, I cannot feel anything. My sensory adapters have been disabled."

Katie jolted when she realized that the voice was coming from the table Elecman was resting on.

"Oh, they connected you to the table. Very good, now we can talk."

She got another robotic response. "About what?"

"Well, like, where are you from? What do you do? I'll start. I was activated about a year ago, and I started out as a dancer, a beautiful, graceful creature who flowed with the music."

"That is nice. How did you come to join the Hunters?"

"Well, actually it wasn't nice. My kind of dancing was more for the seedy side of the 'entertainment industry' rather than the high-class artsy stuff. You know, strutting in front of a bunch of rabid guys, human and reploid, who look like they've never seen a female before. Ogling me and my rather shapely design. A bunch of perverts if you ask me. My friends call them 'furverts', with me being a skunk and all. Anyway, I got bored with being just some pretty face and wanted a job with respect. So I joined the Hunters, unfortunately, I'm the one who usually ends up getting hunted."

"I was created for maintenance of large scale power facilities. I was designed to withstand high electrical discharges."

"Really, that would explain the name. You from around here?"

"I do not know where 'here' is."

"Oh."

Elecman thought for a moment, trying to strike up some kind of small talk of his own. "'Katie' is it? That is a nice name. Interesting. Your serial number ends in '8E'. I was the 8th in a series and my name commences with 'E'. Actually, I would be 9th if you count the prototype."

"Really, were the others in your series designed for the same function as you?"

"Negative. We were all built for different functions."

"And where are they now? Do you know?"

"Affirmative. They have been terminated."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"'Sorry'?"

"Yeah, I mean, it must be hard to lose your friends, how ever they died."

Elecman was confused, he didn't feel sorry, grief or regret.

"I see I've touched a nerve with that. I think it's getting late and I think we both need some sleep. I'm sure Lifesavor will fix you up good tomorrow, there's no need to be scared."

Katie limped back to her bed and laid down, leaving Elecman with his thoughts.

('Sorry', 'scared' what does she mean? I don't feel anything?)

* * *

His first memory of her, etched into his mind until time itself ends, a vision of a kind, gentle flower; and he was a brain-dead moron. 

("Affirmative." "Negative." Yeesh.)

He sat back and thought about the hearings they were all headed for, meetings with intellectual dimwits and emotional renegades who couldn't be swayed by a mountain of calm argument and logic over the slightest hint of hearsay or panic. Convincing them that the real cause was the Nightmare virus and that it was now under control wasn't good enough. It had been brought up before, but it was always pushed to the back burner, sighting that it was just one example of what can go wrong with reploids and that reploids as a whole were problematic; a common ploy by those clearly too motivated by upcoming elections and public opinion polls than by their own conscience.

For 7 years, E had held one card very close to his chest. E had considered it before, but now would seem to be a situation so dire that he might have no choice but to play it.

* * *

The walk up the city hall's steps was all too familiar for the quartet, as was the route through the hallways, and the chairs in the auditorium. They sat down along with everyone else as they filed in, Dr. Cain sitting quite normally while each of the reploids had to make certain adjustments to account for their unique body structures. After 10 more minutes, everyone had taken their places, and the chairman at the tables in front of the theatre had called the meeting to order by banging his gavel on the table. 

"This meeting will come to order. This session of the Burlington City Council is to further discuss the planned bill, B-154 on the current status of reploids in our city. To recap, this week we've received a strongly worded opinion from some of the nearby communities who are rather concerned over our lack of progress on this matter."

E was also growing impatient with the proceeding, but more so with the interference that certain "outsiders" were running. ('Strongly worded opinion' my metal ass; why doesn't he just say a 'kick in the teeth'?)

"We've heard over the last few days local opinion on this, and today we are going to hear from local cybernetics expert, Dr. Sidney Cain. Dr. Cain."

The doctor stood up and approached the podium at the center of the room, something he had done many times over the last few months. Were the situation not so dire the reploids sitting next to him might have chocked back a small giggle, knowing that he was a doctor of archaeology, not robotics. But while Dr. Cain wasn't the master of robotics that the legendary Dr. Thomas Light was, he was the most deeply involved with the reploids and one of the most knowledgeable, even if all he did was copy Dr. Light's masterwork.

"Thank you, councillor. Members of the committee, I thank you for giving me this time to address the public. I know that I've already spoken before, and there is really little else for me to say, but I do want to refute some of what we've discussed in the last few days."

E was sitting rather impatiently in his seat, tiring quickly of all this pomp and circumstance.

"The most recent comments regarding reploids have been regarding the lack of trust in them and that they have 'betrayed' us. I don't deny that some of these 'creations' have turned bad and have caused immense trouble for humanity, but they living sentient beings and each one should be treated with respect, even though there have been those that have caused turmoil. And to those who still believe that they are just machines and that we have the right to destroy what we don't like, it was man who created the reploids, and we are responsible for what happens."

E could tell that Dr. Cain's words were not really getting through to everyone around the meeting hall. The words had been heard before, all these arguments were discussed at length, and nothing had really changed; but everyone had something dire on their minds. They all knew that Arcadia had been pushing nearby communities to introduce legislation to contain the "reploid threat", and there had been rumours as to what happened to those who tried to slow the passage of such laws. Everyone here was antsy and wanted to put the issue behind him, but they were also concerned if they struck down B-154; they doubted Arcadia would unleash all out war, but it was the largest city in the area and had a lot of economic power.

"Excuse me!"

The congregation turned toward the three reploids that came in with Dr. Cain.

E stood up. "I'm sorry if I'm speaking out of turn, but I think that I have as much right to speak; I am a reploid, and this is about my kind."

The chair called him down. "Your name is?"

"E."

"Step forward, E."

E took center stage and stood at the podium, Dr. Cain moved to one side.

"Yes sir. My name is E, I am a reploid, and I want to express my concerns over what is happening." E almost choked on his words, not because he was that shook up or emotional, but because he had a lot of pent up rage and was trying to contain it to act diplomatic.

"I know that you've all gone through Hell since the first reploid went maverick more than a decade ago, we all have; I've been a Hunter for 4 years, and I've been here in the three years since. I have seen what has been happening, and how everyone has been hurt so much. We're now in a phase where we have to rebuild, to repair the damage that's been done; and that's going to be a lot of work. But there are those who have been hurt so badly, that they won't let it go, and they seek restitution against those they blame for their misfortune. I know that this war was caused by reploids that went 'maverick', but not all reploids should be held responsible for what some did."

"All throughout human history there have been certain groups that have been persecuted because of some individuals and their atrocious actions; in one of the wars of the 20th century, Japanese living in Allied countries were persecuted because Japan was an enemy at the time. But that was something that happened many years ago, long before anyone alive today was even born, and cannot truly understand. Well, its happening now, and reploids are taking the blame for something a few had done, something that even they were not really responsible for. I know that you feel much pain, just as the people in the west were hurt after an attack on Pearl Harbor; but let me tell you what I'm feeling, probably just how Japanese-Americans felt in that war. I'm feeling scared, scared that there are people who will decide that I will have no freedom, that I won't have any rights, that I won't have the freedom or the right to even live in a world that I fought to save."

"Reploid history is short; it started only a few decades ago when one man, Dr. Thomas Light created the first, Mega Man X, the one who was the basis of all reploids, and he wanted a future of hope and freedom. But Dr. Wily, just as he interfered in the past, wanted to stain the future by creating a virus that would drive us to madness. The first mavericks, Repliforce, the final battle against Sigma Neotus, and the current situation in Arcadia; all of it can be traced back to the warped plans of a maniacal mind."

The councillor interrupted E's monologue. "It has long been debated that the Nightmare virus was created by Dr. Wily, but there's been no proof of that."

"I am telling you that it is true, all that has happened up to now was caused by a curse delivered on us by a madman who's been dead for over half a century."

"And what proof do you have that the Nightmare virus was created by Dr. Wily?"

"I was there when he made it."

* * *

E's statement certainly set off a storm, and for the next two hours he was grilled by every member of the committee regarding his previous self and the infamous Dr. Wily; this lead to several embarrassing questions over why one of Wily's old robot masters was upgraded to a reploid. After a while, the committee wanted hard proof of Wily's involvement; the only thing E could offer was his memories, a complete recording of his memory banks. It was a sacrifice E was hesitant to make, considering it was his own freedom that he was fighting for, but it was necessary at this juncture to give a little, if he wanted to protect everything else.

* * *

4 days later, the council studied the recordings made from E's memory banks. 

"They wouldn't believe me!!"

E stormed out of city hall, followed closely by Katie and Arm. Dr. Cain lagged a little behind, slowed down by his age.

"Hold up, E. Getting in a huff isn't going to do any good." The elder human called out, hoping that the others would slow down.

"I told them what I know, I gave them a recording straight from my memory banks, and they still refuse to believe me. If anything, they trust me even less—if they trusted me at all!"

As always, Katie tried to calm him down. "Please, don't get like this, you did what you could and…"

"And nothing!" E finally stopped, allowing the four to regroup.

Dr. Cain was the last to join. "Let's just go home. There's nothing we can do here right now."

* * *

One of the longest hours in E's life passed on the subway trip home, to him it felt longer than the 60 years he spent as a piece of scrap in Wily's lab. E didn't say anything; he just sat in his seat, gazing at the rapidly passing lights of the subway.

* * *

Back at Dr. Cain's house, E continued to mope over the recent events; the other three also felt the defeat, but for them it would be better to console the one who had put so much on the line, and who grieved enough for the four of them. 

Katie was by his side, as always. "E, you did all you could."

"You're not doing yourself any favours by moping around the house like this." The good doctor added.

"Snap out of it." Arm blurted out rather uncompassionately.

E ignored all of them, simply sitting with his chin resting on his folded hands.

Dr. Cain broke the silence. "You can't blame yourself. You were sitting in that pile of rubble for over half a century; you're lucky that your memory wasn't totally corrupted."

E started to rant, snidely mimicking the comments from the committee. "'The data is too faded', 'we can't analyze the validity of a copy', 'there is nothing that actually connects Wily and the Nightmare virus.' These people are impossible! I swear they're being paid off by those Arcadian slime."

"Getting angry gets us nowhere; believe me, I've had to deal with bureaucrats before, and getting angry is a sure fire way to get yourself thrown out into the street."

"Yeah, well these guys are sure good at pissing people off. That should be illegal."

"And they're the ones who make the law, go figure. E, you need to be passionate, without acting like a raving lunatic."

Katie had been rather quiet, having little to say she let Cain speak for the most part; she didn't like the way E was tearing himself apart. "E, it's getting late. Let's turn in and worry about this tomorrow."

"What? I can't turn in…"

"Shhh. You need some sleep."

"E, why don't you take some time off, you need some rest." Dr. Cain walked up the large reploid. "I'll go back to the council tomorrow, you take the day off."

E sighed; Cain was right he was too worked up, even though the situation was quite dire, and could easily get worse. "Alright."

Katie took E's arm and guided him to the stairs.

With only the two of them left, Dr. Cain sat down and Arm took another seat next to him. "What do we do now?"

"Well, I can try to get a hold of Prof. Sherman in Quincellon, he's studying most of the remains of Wily's robots, including E's old shell. Perhaps he can extract the proof from one of them, but considering the shape that Elecman was in, I doubt any of them would have what we need."

"So we've got nothing."

"What we need is someone who was there, someone who knows that Wily created the Nightmare virus, someone who is in much better shape and whose memory is far more accurate."

Dr. Cain leaned back in his chair.

"We need Zero."

To Be Continued

* * *

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Capcom and are used without permission. Pheromone "Katie" Skunk is © Black Mantle. 


	4. Those Eyes in the Dark

Another Kind of Nightmare

A Megaman X fanfiction by Black Mantle

_**Those Eyes in the Dark**_

The next morning, E, Katie, Dr. Cain and Arm parted ways at the subway station; the latter pair headed to the city hall, while the first pair headed downtown.

"So, where are we going?"

"Somewhere fun, I was thinking of visiting the botanical gardens; there's so little green on the surface, and I've wanted to see it ever since we got here."

"Yeah, there's been little time for such things since we arrived."

Katie didn't like the downtrodden tone of her boyfriend. "Hold it; we're here for a day off, and not to worry about legal matters."

E didn't try to argue, he just nodded in sheepish agreement.

"Good. After the garden, there's a restaurant I heard about; I've already called ahead and made reservations. Then afterwards we could go out to a movie, they're playing some movies that they found and restored. I haven't seen a movie since Sigma's onslaught."

"Sounds like you've been planning this for a while."

"For a couple months now; after all the work we've put in you never know when a free day will come, so you have to be ready to grab it and take it for all it's worth."

"That's something we haven't been doing, up until a few years ago, we all pretty much thought that it all couldn't be taken from us; even when fighting the Mavericks, it never really sunk in. How I wish I could have those years back and take it for all it was worth."

"You're moping again. Stop being such a 'Gloomy Gus' and try and enjoy this day."

"Sorry, I'll try to lighten up."

Katie decided not to bother doting on E for his 'try to lighten up' comment, and instead would wait until they got there; then she'd make him enjoy himself until she killed him.

E stayed silent for most of the trip, instead of talking with his girlfriend, he was looking around the subway car at everyone. Most people were preoccupied with their own daily chores; kids going to school, adults going to work or running errands. But amongst them, E was sure there were prying eyes gazing on him, just as he was gazing back. 5 days ago, he revealed his origin as one of Wily's robots, and he was certain that tidbit of news had reached halfway around the globe by now; at the very least those morons in Arcadia had heard and would probably try to discredit him, assuming they just didn't demonize him and try to burn him at the stake.

He sat uncomfortably for the rest of the ride, certain that there was a conspiracy closing in on him.

* * *

The Lorelei Garden was easily the most beautiful thing in the city, a building made of white stone at the bottom and a dome roof made of steel girders and clear glass that formed a meshwork of triangles and interconnecting rings that headed into the carved out sky. Embedded in the white stone were large circular grates that allowed air to pass from inside the dome to the outside, which was the inside of a giant cavern. And at the crossover points of the thicker steel beams of the dome were large bright yellow lights that shone like mini-suns, illuminating the large swath of green contained by the cage. From outside, all you could see of the contents was the bright lights and a mass of green leaves from the trees that grew high up, soaking as much of the radiant life blood as they could. Greedy things trees are, growing large to harness light at the cost of other life around it, digging its roots deep to stake its claim to the land, and breathing in carbon dioxide in enormous amounts to expel oxygen. Oh sure, there are environmentalists who praise the tree for forming oxygen, but when you're not looking, they'll use up that oxygen for their own purposes too. 

The trees seemed to coerce with the proprietor of the gardens, a woman named Lorelei, to keep people from looking in at the pretty flowers; forcing people to pay to enter. But the humans didn't seem to mind though; it took money to run the place, and it was a necessity to have the green garden to produce life giving oxygen for the people living underground. That was also why they were allowed to consume large amounts of electricity, even at times when power was scarce. Of course, reploids didn't need oxygen, but they needed energy in some form or another; just another example of human needs overriding reploid needs.

Katie and E went to the main doors where they were greeted with a ticket booth. Katie paid the cover and the pair was admitted into the building.

* * *

The inside of the structure was almost totally open; the white stone structure opened into the garden, and formed a stone walkway that encircled the green area in the middle. E and Katie walked around the circle, passing a few paths that led in, just admiring the view from the outside before taking the plunge and going in deeper. 

On the outer terrace, E noticed that there were a few small outdoor restaurants set up. "Are we eating at one of these?"

"We had breakfast only a little while ago and you're already thinking of lunch?" Katie half pouted in a semi-disturbed semi-sarcastic tone. "These are just coffee shops, they don't serve anything more than bagels and finger sandwiches; we're going somewhere else."

"Oh."

* * *

After 10 minutes, the pair had walked halfway around the outer circle, looking at the passing foliage. At this point, Katie was tired of simply passing by and took the first path leading in to the center; E, of course, followed behind. 

Now the flora was on both sides; after passing the trees at the outside, Katie and E were between bushes, shrubbery, and very leafy plants. Here there was very little color other than green; although there were pale yellows and browns blended in with the green leaves, there were no reds or pinks or violets of the pretty flowers that grew all over the planet's surface, before it was reduced to a desert. Hints of those colors could be seen ahead as the bushes gave way to flower beds, but it was nice here; being with plants that would easily be found on a person's front lawn made a person feel a bit like they were home. However, this was a feeling that E could not appreciate, he never lived in a house that had a lawn; his entire life was spent underground, with only some faint memories of his former life when he would never had cared about such things.

"Isn't it lovely?"

"They look nice."

"'Nice'? Can't you be a little more enthusiastic? It's not like we get see this everyday."

(Uh oh.) E had to think fast.

"I'll save the 'lovely' comments for the flowers, not the ferns and bushes."

"That's so sweet." Katie's tone changed quite quickly. "Or at least it would be if you actually meant it."

(I am so busted.)

Katie looked straight into E's eyes and with a scowl on her face, half yelled and half whispered at him. "Now you listen here, I came here for a good time, and I expect you to have a good time too; and if you don't, I'll make sure you never have a good time again. Got it?"

"They look lovely."

* * *

Katie was taking her time walking through the structure; there was so much to take in, and she didn't want to waste it with a quick jaunt right to the pretty flowers that she was ultimately waiting for. Eventually, she and E were on the cusp of the flower beds at the center of the garden, that made the gardens the great attraction that they were. Like icing on a cake, the green leaves and stalks and brown branches where covered in a blanket of colored patches; a swath of purple here, a splash of yellow there, as if a rainbow with no sense of direction criss-crossed the Earth every which way. 

"Aren't they gorgeous?"

E had not seen anything this pretty in a long time. "They're beautiful."

Katie was glad that E was finally getting into it, not caring whether he actually was interested or just getting better at faking it. She knelt down to get a close look at the patch of daisies below her. "Look at how delicate they are."

Katie reached out and touched the small white petals; despite the limited sense of touch of her metal fingers, she could still feel the soft fuzzy petals.

"Oh yeah, you can definitely tell the difference."

"What?"

"Real flowers, fake ones are made out of plastic or felt, but neither feels quite like real flowers."

"I never paid much attention to flowers, real or fake; I suppose you didn't like the bouquet I got you last Valentine's?"

"They were lovely, fake lovely but lovely." Katie turned back to the real flowers in front of her. "I think they sell seeds here, maybe I should try growing something."

"Maybe I should've just rebuilt your old body instead of building a new one."

"Huh?"

"You used to have green thumbs, remember?"

"Oh you. Let's find the roses; I've never seen a real rose before."

E thought it was pretty sad that she never saw real roses before. He had seen real roses, but that was back in the old days, when Elecman would never had cared about real flowers; so for all intensive purposes, E never saw a real rose either.

* * *

"Oh wow." Katie found the rose bushes. "They are so beautiful." 

E followed closely behind, and moved to Katie's right side, joining her in appreciating the flowers. He recalled deeply buried in his memory a picture of a pink rose; it was only a glance, and Elecman certainly didn't bother to stop and smell the roses, so the image was very grainy and small. Now seeing a real rose up close, combined with the emotions of a reploid, E felt an emptiness; how could he have gone so long without taking the time to really study something as beautiful as a rose.

"I've never seen real roses, have you?"

"A long time ago, but I don't remember it; I think it was pink."

"How'd it smell?"

"No idea, no aromanometer."

"Right."

Katie took a whiff of the air to smell the delicate scent. "Ooo, that's nice. It lives up to everything I've heard."

E took a good whiff of the roses, it had been a long time since he smelled anything like that; it was nothing like the variety of simulated scents called perfumes that E encountered, usually when Katie herself would wear them on occasion. The scent was as mild and delicate as the roses themselves, they didn't offend the senses and attracted all around with a feeling of mild sensuality and warmth; it was pure love made into a smell, or perhaps a very subtle lust. There was little doubt why the rose was so often associated with love and the day to commemorate romance, St. Valentine's day; it's scent matched perfectly with the fine shapes of the overlapping petals and the red, pink and white colors. But just as roses have their thorns, the scent came with a stinging consequence; or perhaps a freeloader from another flower nearby.

Achoo!

"You alright?"

"Yeah." E twitched his nose like a rabbit to try and shake out the disturbance in his olfactory sensors. "It's just a bit of pollen."

Katie giggled a bit. "You look kind of cute wiggling your nose like that."

E reached up and pinched his nose, rubbing it forcefully to further cleanse himself of the miniscule particles. "I wonder if their pollinating cycle is out of whack, there are no seasons down here to tell them when the right time is, just endless cycles of light and dark."

Katie sighed. "It's sad, really; they want to be outside, not cooped up in this glass bubble."

E really didn't see in the plants what Katie was talking about, but he certainly felt it in himself and the people. All around, everyone was also tired of being cooped up inside the underground city, they wanted to go out into the sun and long rolling green fields; something which would not be found on the surface, only death was there. Everyone was caged up, and worse, everyone knew why. E knew what it was like to be in a glass bubble, and he could feel another bubble closing around him.

* * *

Katie and E left the garden after another hour, and half an hour later than that, Katie and E walked into the restaurant, a rather classy place without being an exclusive fine dining experience reserved for the cultural elite. 

They were met at the entrance by a waitress. "Hello, welcome to the Café Jupiter."

The waitress looked up at the large reploid standing by the skunk, a picture of whom she recently saw in a news article regarding the debate over bill B-154; she wasn't sure of the specifics as it wasn't the main story, but she knew there was something important in there. At first she hesitated, but her professional demeanour won out and continued to address her customer. "Can I get you a table?"

"Hi, I have a reservation; the name's 'Katie'."

While Katie didn't pay much attention to the woman's stall, E did.

The woman quickly checked the register. "Ah yes, table for 2 for E and Katie. Follow me."

The pair followed the waitress to a table by a wall under a picture of a sunset over a long destroyed city. E looked at it for a moment and tried to identify it; the large bridge was certainly familiar, but the name escaped him. Once they were seated, the waitress left, telling them she'd be back with their meal shortly.

"Aren't we supposed to order first?"

"I already ordered when I made the reservation."

"I see." E was a little perturbed that Katie had already ordered for him, instead of letting him choose something, but he also admired how she had planned this day out. He remembered that the last thing on her schedule was a movie; E had little doubt that she had already selected the movie they were going to, and bought the tickets.

"So, what did you order?"

"I went for something a little exotic; I heard that this restaurant was able to make spicy food, so I ordered some curry."

"Curry? I've heard of it."

"Yeah, I hope it'll be good. Imagine my surprise when I ordered and found out there are hundreds of kinds of curry; I didn't know which one to order."

E smirked; the thought of Katie just picking some food at random while she had the whole day planned seemed like an oddity. He didn't have much time to think about it when the waitress returned carrying sets of cutlery, glasses and a pitcher full of a clear liquid; she laid out the items in front of the diners.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." The waitress left and returned to the kitchen.

E took the pitcher and poured some into the two glasses; although it looked like water, it wasn't, as reploids didn't drink water. Instead, it was a type of lubricant to help reploids "eat" solid substances, and as a coolant for consuming hot food, and curry was supposed to be a hot food indeed.

It didn't take long for the waitress to return. "Here you go."

She laid two large plates on the table; on each was a bowl with a steaming hot concoction inside. "Enjoy your meal, I'll be back to check on you in a bit."

E looked at the dish, and instantly noticed the color of the dish. "You know you're at a fancy place when they use so much coloring that it actually _looks_ like real food."

Katie was more interested in tasting the spicy meal. She impaled a piece of fake meat with her fork and pulled it out, waiting for a few drops of sauce to return to the bowl before taking it to her mouth. "Oo… This is hot."

She almost instinctively went for her glass. Taking a big gulp, she washed it around her mouth before swallowing; but it did little to appease the fiery god ravaging her tongue.

"That doesn't help."

E grinned. "Just remember, you ordered this."

"Your turn."

E dipped his fork into the morass and pulled out a vegetable, which looked like a pepper, and quickly popped it into his mouth. The sauce hit him first, tingling all over his mouth with a melange of spices, and the chemical burning that comes with it; it was even worse with each bite of the pepper, each chew spread the chemicals of the food and it felt like small doses of acid were sprayed around the inside of his mouth. Underneath the burning was a potpourri of flavours, a mixture that E had never tasted before; but with the burning heat, he didn't have time to discern any of them as he picked up the glass and took a healthy gulp. However, the drink failed to give the refreshment he needed, as some of the burning was still there; but now the taste was gone.

"Do humans really eat this stuff?"

"It pretty popular from what hear."

"With who, masochists?"

Despite the inferno in their mouths, E and Katie tried to eat the rest of the dish; trying everything from swallowing it fast to eating select bits of it to get it right. By the time they were done, E and Katie were getting used to the excessively spicy dish and were able to actually taste it.

"So that's how it works; after you eat enough of the stuff, it burns out all the sensors in your mouth."

"Maybe I should have ordered the mild curry."

E considered if he should counter with a snide remark like "Ya think? I was hoping that you got the 'nuclear' curry.", but decided that her suffering the same mouth searing torture was punishment enough. Besides, he already scored a few yellow flags back in the garden, there was no point going for getting thrown out of the game.

"Well, I'm sure it'll be better next time."

Katie felt a bit better with that, knowing that lunch wasn't a total disaster.

The waitress came back to take the dirty dishes back to the kitchen, promising desert would follow.

"At least dessert will be a lot better."

"What did you order? And don't take this the wrong way, but I hope it's ice cream, plain ordinary normal _cold_ ice cream."

Katie rolled her eyes back in an "Oh brother" look; it wasn't ice cream, but even she was wishing that the frigid treat was on its way. "Don't worry, I got something normal."

The waitress returned with new plates and cutlery, and one large plate with a round brown mass on it. When she laid it on the table, E could see a large number was painted on it using a simulated icing. As she turned and departed, E studied the number "7" scribed in red and white icing.

"Happy Birthday. I know it was a few days ago, but we've been so bogged down lately."

"I almost thought you forgot."

Katie was stunned that E could even think that. "What? How could you even think that?"

"Because with all that's going on, I almost forgot."

"It has been pretty hectic with everything going on, hasn't it? It's sort of like having your birthday on the same day as Christmas or something. I had a friend whose birthday was a week before Christmas; he went crazy, I wonder if there's a connection."

While Katie was talking, E was cutting into the cake, creating two small pieces and putting them on his and Katie's plates.

"This looks good." E cut into the spongy mass with his fork, then consumed it. "Mmm, chocolate, dark chocolate…"

Katie also ate some of the treat. "Delicious."

"This birthday is starting to shape up. Did you get me a present?"

"It's back at the house. You'll get it later."

E faked a childish pout. "But I want it now."

"Now, now, now; little children who wine don't get their presents."

E held up the partially eaten cake, still showing the number on it. "But I'm only 7, remember."

* * *

After leaving the restaurant, E and Katie made for a nearby movie theatre; a relatively small multiplex that had 8 screens and less than 100 seats per. At the main door outside the theatre, Katie and E were looking over the titles of the movies. 

"'The London Path', I've heard about this one." Katie squeezed E's arm, and pointed at the sign. "It's about a divorced man who goes to London and meets his ex-wife after her second divorce."

"I'm guessing someone has already checked the movie listings before coming here."

"Oh don't be so mean. C'mon."

Katie pulled E into the theatre and into the ticket line.

* * *

The reploids entered the theatre, its lights were still on so that everyone could see and not trip over the seats. E and Katie found a pair of seats for themselves near the middle of the sub-200 seat theatre. E retracted his pylons to fit in the seat, while Katie had to sit on the edge in order to squeeze her tail between the seatback and her back. 

"They definitely don't make these seats for reploids."

"You're just complaining that you don't have a human shape. How about I give you a detachable tail?"

"I like my tail just fine."

Katie might have been satisfied with her position, but there were those that did not find it acceptable.

"Excuse me." A male voice came behind Katie, one that certainly didn't sound very friendly. "Would you please move your… tail?"

"Oh, sorry; it has a mind of its own sometimes."

Katie started to move around to reorient her tail. While watching her, E heard the man in back whisper a comment that Katie was too busy to notice.

"Stupid reploids."

Over the course of the day, E was starting to calm down and enjoy himself; only to have it ruined by two thoughtless words whispered under someone's voice.

When Katie finished with her tail, she turned back. "Sorry about that."

(Don't bother saying 'sorry' to that jerk.)

E looked at Katie's new position with her legs, torso and tail twisted out of any normal position. "Comfy?"

"Not bad, I'll manage."

(Once again, we have to adapt to live in a human world.)

* * *

"I don't love you, Frank; I haven't loved you in four years." 

"But then you seem to have trouble loving anyone. You ran off with Scott, and less than a year later, you didn't love him anymore either."

"How dare you suggest that this was my fault; it was your wandering eye, locked on every little tart on the street _except me_."

"You were always so bossy, you tried to take total control, nothing I did was ever good enough for you."

"Maybe if you actually _tried_, I might have still loved you; but you were just a snivelling little rat."

* * *

E was more or less enjoying the movie, but he couldn't help but be a critic, occasionally whispering comments to his mustelid girlfriend. "These guys are way overacting." 

"Oh hush, they're being dramatic."

"Drama queens would be my guess."

A 'shhh' from somewhere around ended the conversation there.

(I'm going to have to install some kind of internal comm. system; perhaps a text message system, something nice and quiet.)

* * *

Later, E and Katie were walking out of the theatre, talking about the film. 

"I thought movies were supposed to have a happy ending."

"Now what would be the thrill if every movie had a happy ending; the bad guys go to jail or are killed, the hero gets the girl and they live happily ever after. There have to be good guys who lose or the good guys who win have no glory."

"If you're going to have a romantic movie, it should have actual romance in it."

"You thought Frank and Margaret would get back together."

"Actually, from what I was hearing about that Scott guy; I thought he and Frank had a shot."

Katie laughed. "So homosexuality is the answer."

"Of course; and Margaret had 'Butch' written all over her."

"Well too bad, life doesn't always end in rolling fields of grass and a kiss amongst the flowers."

"Still, with all that's going on, I'd prefer a happy ending."

"Yeah, happy endings are something we're short on right now." Katie thought about all that was happening that they were trying to ignore; but the point for coming here was to ignore it, so she tried to get back to the topics of movies.

"Remind me never to take you to see 'Casablanca'."

"'If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it; maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.'"

"You've seen it?"

"No, but that's got to be the most famous line in movie history. Why does the world torture people so much?"

Again, Katie didn't like the dark tone this conversation was taking, so she decided to cut it off right away and get completely off the topic of movie endings, good or bad. "Well, I'm spent, shall we go home?"

"Sure, I'm feeling a bit tired myself."

They went home. While walking back to the subway station, E was trying to put the images of prying eyes out of his mind and a world that was caving in around him. If only he had looked in one particular corner of the garden, the restaurant, or the movie theatre, he might have seen one set of dark eyes that focused directly on him, following him throughout the day.

To Be Continued

* * *

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Capcom and are used without permission. Pheromone "Katie" Skunk is © Black Mantle. 


	5. Unwanted Options

Another Kind of Nightmare 

A Megaman X fanfiction by Black Mantle

**_Unwanted Options_**

That evening, E Katie, Arm and Dr. Cain sat down for supper to discuss their respective days.

"So, did you two have a nice time?" Asked the doctor.

E toyed with some odd brown mass on his plate with his fork. "I had a good time; it was nice to have a day off."

"It wasn't until halfway through the movie that you finally started to ease up." Katie picked up some green bubbles that were a cross between peas and marshmallows in her spoon and brought them to her mouth. "Yoh wref wewe…"

The skunk chewed her food and swallowed. "You were really tense for most of the day. I'm glad I took you to a romantic movie, you would probably have gone postal had we gone to that action flick they were showing."

Arm chuckled. "You went to a romantic movie; did you lean on each other shoulders, wrap you arms around each other, and start making purring noises?"

Arm got a face-full of the brown thing on E's plate. "'Purring noises'? What kind of weirdo are you?"

"Oh, you want a fight, huh?" Arm scooped up some of the food on his plate with his spoon, and was about to fling it at E across the table.

"Stop it." Dr. Cain sighed. "All the reploids in the world, and I get stuck with you three."

Katie was sitting across from Cain and tried to stay out of E and Arm's spat, undeserving of being grouped with the others. "Doctor, what happened at the town hall today?"

"As good as could be expected, I suppose; you sure set of a fire storm with that bomb you dropped a few days ago." Cain glanced as E. "You really should be there tomorrow."

"Why, what happens tomorrow?"

"The committee has decided to end the debate on bill B-154, they're going to take their findings to the city and come to a decision on it within a week or so. Tomorrow they'll be having some closing statements."

"So that's it. After tomorrow, it's all the hands of the bureaucrats."

"Basically, yes. We could try to arrange a private meeting with some of the city's board members, or even the mayor; but you'd better have a real hum dinger to tell them, or we won't even get in the door."

"Damn, I should have been there today." E slammed his fist on the table. "A crucial debate on the future of all reploids, and I was taking the day off!"

Katie felt a bit guilty over hearing that; if she had known the debate was going to be cut off, she wouldn't have taken the day off either, nor would she have insisted on E coming along. Knowing E as well as she did, this news was going to make him worse than last night.

E started to mutter uncontrollably, hardly coherent. "Stupid idiots… bigots… bureaucrats… legal weasels…"

The other three looked on, not knowing what to say to calm him down. Katie was feeling guilty, Arm was trying to ignore him while eating his meal, and Dr. Cain was trying to think of all the advice that his professors gave him back in university that might fit in this situation; but they never had to deal with emotionally unstable robots. E continued to brood.

"E, I'm sorry about this. I shouldn't have taken you away like that."

E didn't bother answering Katie; he was too lost in himself.

"Forget it. We're all scared, and E needed some time off. You did him a world of good, even if he doesn't realize it." Arm went back to eating.

Dr. Cain looked over his three robotic companions and came up with a sure fire way to break the ice. He plunged his spoon in his mashed potatoes and flung the blob right at E's head.

"What the? Arm!"

"What? I didn't."

Katie noticed that it was human food splattered on E's face. "Dr. Cain?"

"If you're all done messing up supper, I have something to say. E, just what would you have done today if you had gone to the meeting?"

E thought for a moment wanting to blurt out something just in anger over the doctor's stupid question, but he didn't have an answer; everything he knew was on the recording he gave the council a few days ago, there was nothing more to add.

"Then why are you moping? There was nothing for you to say, so there was nothing for you to do. I know you're worried about B-154 passing, but it just makes things worse the longer it goes, whether it passes or fails; it'd be a lot better if this was gotten out of the way. If it fails, you can then rest; if it passes, you can put it behind you that much sooner and get on with your life, whatever you decide to do."

E wiped the rest of the potatoes off his head, thinking about what the human said. "And if it passes, then what do we do?"

"It's your decision, stay and live with it, or try to leave; but worrying about it gets you nowhere. What you said last week was quite effective; you handled yourself well and expressed your concerns. The best thing you can do is get some rest, and go back tomorrow; either to listen, or to express any final thoughts, but to do so calmly and confidently."

E sat for a moment, thinking about it. "I suppose your right."

"Good. We'll finish supper, take it easy for a bit, and go to bed."

* * *

After supper, Dr. Cain and the three reploids sat in the living room, watching the television; normally the news would be the first thing on, but since everyone wanted to relax, not one second of the depressing programming flashed on the screen. Ignoring news programming dramatically cut into the choice of viewing, but there were still enough game shows, sitcoms and sports to keep from switching on 24 hour infomercials.

During a commercial break, Katie got up and headed upstairs.

"Where are you going?"

"Just gone to powder my nose."

Katie left, leaving E to ponder what she was doing; that statement always meant that she was gone for a few minutes, but the excuse was lame since it meant that a lady was going to the bathroom, but reploids don't need bathrooms. After a few minutes, Katie came back carrying a box that was tied up with a bright red ribbon.

"Happy birthday."

Katie handed the box to E and sat down next to him.

"Thanks." E quickly glanced around the room. "Where's your gifts?"

Arm responded with the dumbest excuse in the book. "It's in the mail."

"Oh forget him."

E turned back to the present at hand, lifting it to judge its weight, and tilting it to try and hear anything; all he could determine was that it was light and it wasn't made of anything solid.

"What is it? It's kind of light, perhaps a scarf?"

"No."

"It's too small to be a hat."

"Oh would you shut up and just open it."

E could tell that Katie was getting impatient. Her voice had hints of anticipation and even worry; perhaps she was concerned that he might not like it. E undid the ribbon and opened the lid; inside, he could see a shadow of what looked like a small person. He reached in and pulled out a small plush doll.

"It's me?"

The doll was very cartoony with an insane smile painted on its face, and it bore a costume similar to the one E used to wear, the black, red and gold combination made fashionable almost a century before.

(Why did she get one made to look like Elecman?) E studied the doll a bit more, noticing the accuracies and inaccuracies of the model, trying to figure out why Katie would give him such a thing. (I don't know if I should be happy or disturbed.)

"So, what do you think?"

E wasn't sure how to answer. He could tell by how shyly Katie asked the question that she honestly didn't know how he would react to it, whether he would like it, or if it would drive him crazy.

"Well, it's well made and I certainly don't have one."

E looked at it some more, in particular the face. The gold mask around the eyes was similar to his, but it didn't cross in front of the face, instead it just circled around the outside and ended at a point at his cheeks. The large open eyes and the lack of a nose were weird, but E just figured it was the style of the doll. Then he was drawn to the strange open mouthed smile that it had; he thought it was such a totally strange look, no one smiles like that, not even in cartoons. Ignorant that there were people watching, as they were his friends, E imitated the dopy face of the doll. He couldn't hold it for more than a minute before he had to laugh; not really loud, more of a quick chuckle. For all the weirdness and creepiness that the caricature of Elecman held, it was also funny.

"It's adorable; it's cavity-inducingly cute, but I love it."

In a way the doll represented all the things in the past that didn't exist now, cleaned up and spiffed up in a way that hid all the bad stuff that Elecman represented as one of Dr. Wily's minions and shone brightly with all of the good things to be found in memories. It was like looking at the world in rose-colored glasses.

* * *

The next morning, the four got on their way to city hall for what would be the conclusion of the debate. The trip was pretty uneventful, as were most of the proceedings. E listened to what everyone said, waiting for anything that was worth arguing; but there were very few things brought up and it seemed that things might come to a close within an hour of starting. The reploid also looked around at the faces of everyone in the room, many of whom had been there for weeks, and were also growing tired of the proceedings; some had only been there a day or two, perhaps taking an interest now that it's winding down and looking for a summary. But out there, E could see that there were many eyes that gazed his way; many really couldn't believe that one of Dr. Wily's robots could still be around rebuilt as a reploid, and wondered what other secrets E might have.

"We can't blame all reploids for what happened."

"My husband died in the war against the mavericks, I can't afford to lose my son like that."

"I have severe medical problems, and my reploid nurse is the only one I can find who can take care of me."

"We don't have to destroy the reploids, but why can't we monitor and track them."

E listened carefully, devising hundreds of rebuttals to most everything negative said, and thousands of examples to back up the positive; but what he really wanted was to judge the feeling of the people, that was really all that mattered. Who cared about Arcadia, or whether or not B-154 passed; if the people here didn't want them, then why stick around?

After almost two hours, many people had addressed the debate, but E remained silent; waiting to hear all he could. Eventually, the chairman called the debate to closure.

"Then if no one else wishes to address the council." The chairman paused for a second.

E wondered if he should jump in and add anything, but ultimately, he had nothing.

"In that case, I am declaring this debate adjourned."

* * *

The next day, E and Katie were walking downtown talking about the future; they had done everything they conceivably could, and were leaving it up to fate to decide what happens next.

"This waiting is going to kill me. How much longer do you think it will take? Shopping usually calms me down, but this stress is too much."

"Not sure; there's another bill or two ahead of 154, a week, maybe more. Sure it's possible that the thing might just die from endless arguing; what do they call that?"

Katie thought a second. "A filibuster?"

Despite being so deeply involved in the political process as of late, neither really knew a whole lot about politics or the way legislatures worked, least of all the correct terminology. "Something like that."

"And what will we do if it passes?"

"It'll still take a while for it to come into effect. We could stay and fight, but considering how things have gone so far, I'm inclined to say we should leave."

"Run away, to where…"

"Wherever we can, there must be someplace out there for us. If we have to, we'll make a home somewhere on the surface; at the very least there will be no humans to compete with, but there's not much else up there."

"To live as nomads, to live in a desert, rejected by the rest of the world."

"There must be something better out there, this is but one city, and Arcadia's reach is not infinite."

* * *

The next day, the reploids started preparations; knowing that B-154 might pass, they were preparing to leave and find a new home, just in case. Katie and Arm were shopping and packing supplies for their trip, while E was on the surface working on a vehicle to take them as far as needed. E liked the peace and quiet; a small garage in the abandoned upper world was a perfect place to get some work done without interruption, and totally different than the hassle of the public debates he had been going to for the last few weeks.

He spent most of his time elbow deep in the car, far too concerned with getting it working to bother looking out onto the wasteland that was now Earth. Before Sigma's final assault, the upper world was trying to restore itself, new life was growing where there was barren land before; but now the terrain was just that, desolate and lifeless. There were days that E was outside, looking at the desert that reminded him of why some people hated the reploids so much, and it made him very sad; not only because of what other reploids had done, but because of how his kind were being ostracized for it now. He wondered how long it would take for everything to heal, the environment and people's hearts.

But today there was no time for that; he had to get this car working. Many of the parts were badly damaged or rusted out; E hoped that he'd be able to pull enough spare parts from around the garage and other scrapped vehicles to get this one working, but when complete it would be one Frankenstein of a vehicle. E was trying to calculate how far their makeshift automobile would have to get them; the nearest town was less than 20 km away, but it would certainly be under the same pressure from Arcadia as Burlington was. No, they'd have to go further, and the farther the better. Heading west, there were about 14 cities within 500 km; the largest was around 340 km away. E figured he could easily get this thing to go 500 km, but he wasn't going to settle for something that short, just in case anti-reploid sentiment emanated from another place as much as it did from Arcadia.

There were other things to consider for the trip. Although E figured he could get the vehicle into good enough shape to make a long trip, a car still needed fuel; hopefully, the solution to this problem would lie with several large metal containers and a trailer that could be towed behind. But a car also needed a road, if they found the terrain too difficult, a 100 km trip could easily turn into 1000; this was a problem he had no solution for, other than to pray that the land to the west was relatively flat.

This was going to be a long and exhausting trip, and could easily turn very bad, very quickly; all the more reason to hope that B-154 didn't pass in the first place. The trip would be hard; very likely that they might be forced to turn around and return, facing the consequences, or not making it back at all. E shook those ideas out of his head. No, he had to stay positive; he was positive that the car would drive just fine, he was positive that they would find a new home, he was positive that Katie would pick up a box or two of those simulated fruit cakes he liked.

E returned to working on the car. He was sure the engine was fine, but a lot of the accompanying parts were not so good; fuel injector, carburetor, steering, transmission, radiator, much of it needed to be repaired or replaced. While he was back under the hood, he didn't notice that someone was approaching from the main garage door.

"Hey there."

E wasn't sure, perhaps he was hearing things, but he looked up to check anyway. "Hello?"

Over by the garage doors a shadow was seen leaning on the side. "Just passing by, then I noticed somebody in here."

"What are you doing out here?"

"I like it up here, there's nobody around to bother me with everyone cowering underground."

"Perhaps you should spend a bit more time down below, some real important stuff going on."

"You mean that B-154 thing."

"Yah, _that_ thing. There going to clamp down on us, you should be concerned."

"That doesn't bother me any."

E was a bit alarmed, why would another reploid not care about B-154. "What? Why not?"

"I don't care what a bunch of silly humans do."

"Well you should, they're going to come after everyone of us, and turn us into prisoners, or slaves."

"I suppose that's why you've wasted your time in those debates."

"Yes, that's why I _wasted_ my time. I don't know who you are, but maybe you should actually show a little concern."

"Not like anything I did could undo the damage you did. That was a pretty big gamble you made, telling them you were once one of Wily's robots. Too bad all it seems to have done is to scare the living daylights out of everyone. Face it, you screwed up."

"I didn't screw up anything." E removed himself from the guts of the car and looked towards the door, but the stranger he was talking to was no longer in sight.

E headed for the door, and looked around, but saw no one. "Where did he go?" E looked up and saw a flap of the cape as it folded behind a rooftop.

"He's not getting away." E charged his pylons and floated up, not bothering to question how the stranger got up there so fast.

Up on the roof, E had reached the top and had to duck as the stranger fired a bolt of plasma right for his head.

"Hey!"

The caped stranger was easier to see on the rooftop, but still shrouded as he fled, almost flying away.

"Get back here." E gave chase.

The shrouded one ran over the rooftops; but upon reaching the edge he jumped, and seemed to float in the air as he arced towards the next roof. E wasn't about to let him get away and followed the same path, running to the edge and floating to the next roof. This pattern of running and flying continued for several buildings.

E got tired of chasing, and thought a little threat might get the stranger to stop, or perhaps incapacitate him. Charging his power in his right hand, E fired a small electrical discharge at the caped one; though small for E, it would easily put a human flat on his back. The stranger was not ignorant of E's chase or his attack, and stopped momentarily as the charge flew right into him; but it did not reach. The charge struck a barrier a few feet from the stranger and traced a sphere around the tormentor.

"Heh, heh, pathetic."

"Nice shield, I don't suppose you'd be interested in a stress test." E was definitely ticked off enough to really let the electrons fly, but the stranger shrugged him off.

"I didn't come here for a fight, though I'll give you one if you want. I thought that we could talk, about things, and maybe I might have some advice for your little problem."

"_My_ problem, this is something that will affect all reploids, even you. Why are you packing this attitude?"

"Just the way I am. But it really is not my concern if Burlington passes bill B-52, or whatever it is."

"What? Why not? Who are you? Are you from Arcadia? Take off that blasted cape and show your face."

"No, I'm not from Arcadia, but I am from somewhere very close by."

The joker pulled down the hood, revealing a face that E had not seen in a long time, one that he hardly remembered, and took what seemed like a lifetime to recall from the murky depths. When he finally recalled it, E jolted in shock from a sneer that hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Forte?"

To Be Continued

* * *

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Capcom and are used without permission. Pheromone "Katie" Skunk is © Black Mantle. 


	6. E’s Lessons

Another Kind of Nightmare 

A Megaman X fanfiction by Black Mantle

**_E's Lessons_**

"So, things have been kinda rough the last few years." Forte questioned; not so much as he really cared, but more to taunt his former comrade.

"No kidding. Aside from being left as scrap for 60 years, I'm rebuilt right in the middle of a war." E thought for a second. "Scratch that, the apocalypse. And now I really am facing what looks like the end of days."

"I am fully aware of what's been going on."

"You sure don't act like it."

"Don't expect everyone to act like you; I'm sure many reploids are accepting what's happening as a sign of things to come, not bothering to fight it as it's inevitable."

"Preposterous."

"Aren't we 'Mr. Smarty Pants', using such big words."

E returned an odd scowl at Forte. "Would you be serious for a minute, this is important!"

Forte raised a hand, indicating that he was going to pass on arguing over such a point and let E go on; although in the back of his mind he thought: (Tell it to the hand.)

"All reploids are being blamed for the mavericks, for the war that raged on for the last decade."

"Everyone is tired, they've given up on fighting; they spent ten years fighting Sigma, now they're fighting the humans. I doubt anyone cares anymore."

"Of course they care."

"You care, and I'm sure everyone cared; once. But no one is unfaltering, even the mightiest warriors tire of battle when there is nothing to do but battle; and at some point, even you will concede and let nature take its course."

"Nature? This isn't natural."

"We're machines, we're not natural either. I have no doubt that whatever god looks upon this forsaken world will eventually guide life back to it. It will be savage, brutal life; as big as the dinosaurs and twice as ugly. Survival of the fittest, with sharp claws and pointy teeth and fangs and it'll grab you and shred you and tear your insides out and spill it on the ground."

"Stop being so disgusting"

"Hey, life is messy; take it or die."

"There has to be something better, someway that we can live peacefully; and we won't have it if we don't stand up for ourselves."

"That's what the humans are doing, standing up for themselves; and unlike your pipe dream of a peaceful existence, they don't mind fighting to take it all for themselves. 'Survival of the fittest' you know."

"It's no dream, people and reploids have lived together."

"Yeah, and look where it got us. Humans liked it just fine when we were simple machines, but then we had to go and start thinking for ourselves; these stupid apes just don't like the fact that there's another sentient race with them on this planet."

"It's attitudes like that that make things worse."

"Attitudes, this isn't about attitudes, it's about fear plain and simple; after all that's happened, the humans are scared stiff that it might happen again."

"Fear…" E sighed; fear was something that he was all too familiar with.

"I see I touched a nerve." Forte wasn't apologetic.

E's tone had totally changed, from anger to solemn pitiful whimpering. "Can't they see what they're doing? Don't they see that by going through with this they're just causing more suffering? I spilt my heart out to them, and told them who I was."

"And nobody believed you… Aw, too bad; you played your one big trump card, and no one listened."

E grunted at the jester, who promptly stepped back to avoid any kind of assault.

"Then again, what did you really expect from these 'humans', you're just a copy after all."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"What do you call yourself now, 'E'? 'Elecman' is dead, you're just a copy; why would they listen to someone who's only been online for a few years."

"And what does that make you? 'F'? That would be pretty appropriate."

Forte started to dance a bit. "I'm no copy, I AM Forte. The one, the only."

"You can't be you were…"

"'Destroyed'?" Forte cut him off. "I suppose you also believe that Megaman is the one who killed Dr. Wily."

"What do you mean, Megaman did…" E stopped himself; no he didn't know that, that's what history has since recorded of the incident. Zero's message said that Megaman died fighting Wily, and the doctor died later from his injuries suffered in that battle; but Elecman himself was knocked out of commission before that, just like every other one of Wily's robots.

"I wasn't there when Megaman attacked; I left. I was tired of that old git, so I buggered off. If you thought I bit the big one then your memories are more corrupt than you thought. That was the problem, wasn't it? You've been in that scrap pile for so long that your memories decayed, and since you were rebuilt, they were copied, so there was no way to validate whether your memories were authentic or if they were created."

The taunting was infuriating E, but Forte was right. Accepting the truths that Forte spoke, he calmed down. But he still denied Forte any satisfaction. "They wouldn't listen to me, even if my memories were accurate to the millisecond. They just don't want to listen."

"Just what I was saying about humanity all along."

E mentally slapped himself for the opening.

"Humans don't trust reploids; the whole bit about your memory was just an excuse. Now if your memories were intact, they might be forced to listen to you; but they'd just come up with another excuse."

Forte looked at E, he could see how the reploid's electric heart was being ripped out, so he decided to throw him a bone. "There was something else, wasn't there? Something that the clarity of your memories had no effect on."

Forte paused while E was taking great interest. "You didn't see Wily build Zero, nor did you see him program the Nightmare virus. But I did, I was his assistant for a time. His constant ranting about his new super weapons, it was driving me bonkers; that's why I left, that's why I came back, and that's why _I_ killed him."

E was dumbstruck, while Forte only smiled. "Then you can help me."

"I suppose I could. My memory would be far more reliable and much less open to contest."

"Then we have to get ready, we can go to the council…"

"'We'? What makes you think I would actually help you?"

"What?! You came here to reveal yourself, and you're not going to help?"

"Well, there really isn't anything in it for me."

E was getting infuriated. "Of course there is, what do you think is going to happen if the city passes B-154?"

"Then I'll leave, and I'd suggest you do the same."

"It won't stop here; this anti-reploid sentiment has to be stopped. It'll just spread further; there will be nowhere to go."

"Still doesn't bother me. I'm not a reploid; I'm just a simple robot. I may have learned quite a bit about humanity and emotions, but I don't have emotions of my own. I don't feel happy, or sad, or angry, or scared. I may act like I have emotions, but in reality, I have nothing to lose."

"Try convincing the humans of that."

"I don't need to; I'll destroy any who dares challenge me. Besides, they don't know who I am; they'll just think I'm some random robot, or was created as a non-reploid because of the fear that I'd go crazy with Wily's virus. This world is destroyed, and much of its history has vanished; no one but you knows who I am, and do you think they'll believe you now?"

All of this was too much for E, unable to comprehend the workings of this monster.

"I'll be seeing you around. And good luck with that B-150-whatever thing." Forte turned, swinging his cape in the wind, and started walking.

"What do you want?"

Forte stopped.

"What would it take for you to help us?"

Forte thought about it, he wondered what he could get from E, and decided it would more fun to keep him on hold for a while. "I haven't decided. But when I do, I'll call ya." Forte continued his march, eventually walking off the building and flying away.

"Wait a minute! I'm not done with you."

Forte didn't answer with words, but with power. He swung one arm around and aimed straight at E, firing one burst of energy that catapulted the reploid across the roof of the building and almost over the other side.

"Don't bother me. When I'm ready, I'll have my people call your people." Forte turned and floated away.

It took a few minutes for E to pick himself up after the blast.

(Where did he get that power?)

* * *

The conversation during supper focused on the strange robot that confronted E above ground.

Dr. Cain asked the important question to get the ball rolling. "So who is this 'Forty'?"

"Forte." E answered, emphasizing the "eh" at the end. "He was one of Wily's robots; I'm surprised there was no record of him."

"There are very few records of Wily's robots, since he was a criminal, he didn't bother registering any of his own creations; only those he reprogrammed were officially recorded, and for the others there were limited 'unofficial' records. And all that was distant history, little of which can be easily recovered now."

Dr. Cain's statements were a little eerie to E, and hit a little close to home; he _was_ one of the robots Dr. Wily reprogrammed, and while Elecman would have thought nothing about being "registered", it was too close to what was now happening to the reploids for E's comfort. He shrugged them off to continue the conversation.

"Forte was one of Wily's attempts to defeat Megaman; basically he was trying to copy Megaman, giving his similar weapons and the ability to emulate the weapons of his enemies, with a big power boost. He even went so far to create a robotic canine companion, just like Megaman's dog Rush. He was tough, and Megaman was never able to defeat him, but Forte wasn't any more successful at destroying Megaman either; every time they fought it came out to a draw."

"But I thought all of Wily's robots were destroyed." Katie mused. "How did he survive? And how could he still be functioning to this day?"

"How did he survive? I was left for dead, and I'm here. Forte wasn't there when Megaman fought Wily, but he came back afterwards to finish the job. I don't remember all the details, but he had a bit of an attitude problem and walked out on Wily; after Wily finally defeated Megaman, it was Forte who came back and did the doctor in. At least that was his story. Besides, all that matters is he's here."

"Fine, but what do we do with him? He doesn't sound like the friendly sort, so why should we care?"

E did not like Arm's lack of interest. "Because he may be the proof we need. The city didn't take my memory seriously because it was corrupted, but they might listen to Forte; he wasn't sitting in a scrap heap for 60 years."

"Or they might reject him too." Dr. Cain didn't like shooting down the first bit of enthusiasm E had shown in weeks, but he had to interject with a bit of reality. "E, this is one of Dr. Wily's robots, a man who sought to destroy the world; do you think that they would be willing to take his testimony into consideration?"

"They considered mine, but rejected it because of my condition, and because there was no hard proof. But Forte wasn't almost destroyed like me, and more importantly, he knows more about Zero than I do; he's the one who stole the plans for X from Dr. Light, and Wily used them to create Zero."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I'm certain of that…" E that stopped and thought; the whole question over his reliability was how corrupted his memory was, how could he trust that this fact was true. "I'm pretty sure he did."

"You're pretty sure." Cain sighed. "E, maybe you should try thinking like your old self, more like a robot would. You're allowing your emotions to run rampant without sitting down and devising a clear plan, which you already have. You know full well what's at stake, and you must know that this plan is a serious long shot at best; the odds of Forte helping are low, and the odds that the city will listen are even lower. The cost of failure is too high to not have a back up plan. Look behind you."

E didn't have to turn, he knew what was there, but he did it all the same.

"The three of you are in danger, how much danger is a question, but it's enough that you should be concerned. You have to work together, and you need to help each other, and they need you to be ready and to do your part. It's quite possible that Forte may help, and the city may listen to him, or maybe they won't enact B-154 at all; but you have to be ready for the alternative. You're trying to prepare a vehicle to make your escape, you should complete it, and to be ready to leave if needed."

E nodded, of all of them it was so often the human who spoke with a clear mind and intelligence. "I suppose."

"Good."

* * *

Dr. Cain was ready for bed, and made one last pass through the house to make sure all the lights were out; in the kitchen was one light left on, with a large shadow looking out the large sliding glass door.

"Not sleepy?"

E turned back. "No."

"Katie not around?"

"I told her to go to bed, no sense keeping both of us awake."

"Are you expecting to see Forte out there?"

"Right now, I don't want to see anything out there."

Dr. Cain walked to the other door and looked out; instead of a night sky and a glowing moon was a rocky ceiling and slowly dimming halogen lamps.

"Well if you want to see nothing, that's exactly where to look for it."

Dr. Cain looked down and noticed that E was holding the Elecman plush doll. "So is that a comfort doll now?"

E looked down at it and gazed on the happy face that didn't spark the same laugh in him that it did yesterday.

"I was trying to remember what the past was like. Forte was not only a kick in the teeth, but he also shook up my memories."

"You think you recall something you didn't before?" Dr. Cain pondered that, robotic memory was more organized than human memory; it couldn't just get buried and recalled later like that.

"I wish that were the case." E's gaze returned to the absent sky. "This whole week has totally torn me down. First was the debate, then Forte, but both told me the same thing; my memory is junk. And then there's this doll, it's not right. I know it's not exactly like my old body was, but it does look like me; how do I know if it's the doll, or me. Everything I used to know, or thought I knew is almost totally bogus."

"That's not true, your memory is faint, but it doesn't lie."

"Only to me, no one else believes it; I don't even believe it."

"Then that is dangerous, if you can't believe your mind, then you might as well give up. You have memories that you know are not trustworthy, but what about the last 7 years, that is true and undeniable."

"I know, but there's a part of me that I fear I'm losing, or may have lost already. I'm Elecman as much as I'm E, I'm losing my memories of my old life just as I'm on the verge of losing everything in my real life."

"Welcome to the club."

"Huh?"

"I'm an old man, I can barely remember what I ate for lunch yesterday, let alone what my old friends looked like; and just like you, I've lost a lot over the last few years, friends in real life, and memories of old friends."

"Then what do you do?"

"I fight to keep as much that I can, just like you are doing now; and if that doesn't work, I make new friends, just like you."

"Oh yeah."

"And if you're lucky, your new friends will remind you of your old ones; like you."

"Oh yeah, who do I remind you of?"

"X, you really are a lot like your brother."

"My brother?"

"You were both built originally by Dr. Light, and all reploids including yourself are based on X's design; and beyond that, when I look at you and how you're doing, it's just like X was here in your place. The both of you have always looked for the peaceful way, trying to get humans and reploids to work together; so many times had X encountered reploids who sought to overthrow humanity, and X fought to stop them; now the world has you, trying to defend reploids from unjust treatment from humanity."

"And did he question himself this much, brooding like the world was falling apart and he couldn't do a thing to stop it? Did he feel totally out of place in a world that wasn't his?"

"Yes, he did. By the time you came along, he had found friends and a reason for being, but even then he still felt a bit distraught with the chaos in the world. But if you had met him in those first years when he was activated, or during the first few maverick uprisings, he was worse than you are now. He was totally unsure of his place in the world, and was constantly questioning his actions in a world that was quickly deteriorating."

"So what did he do?"

"He searched for an answer, and came to one conclusion, he wanted to fight for peace and that was what he did."

"That's a very simple answer."

"It's the simple answers that are the hardest to come by. Now what do you want more than anything?"

"I want to live in a world that won't discriminate against me, or hate me and my friends."

"Then that's your answer, plain and simple, work for that and accept nothing less."

"Is it really that easy?"

"The path is often hard, but your answers are only as hard as you want them to be."

E took a minute to ponder the odd tidbit that for all he knew the human got out of a fortune cookie.

"Now, I have a question for you."

"What is it?"

"How long are you going to keep brooding like this and asking me stupid questions? This is really getting on my nerves."

"That's not funny."

"I'm not trying to be funny; you really do have to get over all this." The doctor turned away from the window and headed back to the stairs. "I'm off to bed, turn off the lights when you go, and don't stay up all night."

"Doc, can I ask you something, seeing as how you seem to know everything?"

"Oh, what is it?"

"How is it you always seem to know what to say? Even if it doesn't always work."

"Archaeology is as much knowing human nature as human history; besides, I know more about reploids than anyone." Dr. Cain continued his answer with an odd smirk on his face. "And as much as Dr. Light was a robotics genius, even he cut a few corners on some subroutines here or there; a lot of what I'm telling you I practiced on X."

"Programming, humph. I guess 'free-will' isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"Free-will does not mean total control, it means you have a choice; but sometimes the deck comes stacked against you."

To Be Continued

* * *

This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Capcom and are used without permission. Pheromone "Katie" Skunk is © Black Mantle. 


End file.
